CHAPTER EIGHT
Two days in the palace and Simon still couldn’t find or contact Jake, or find any signs of the kidnapped Lucy. He didn’t like it one bit because it made him worry. Simon hated worrying because it made one feel helpless.
He didn’t like how they were stuck here playing niceties, with Robin being bolder and more charming than usual, because it simply wasn’t her.
He didn’t like how Jin was enjoying the attention and being bolder, too, as he flirted with Robin and got too close.
Had Simon been his usual self, he’d probably already have punched the man and been done with it. He was all for being diplomatic and all that, but there was a time for that—and when Jin rubbed his hand up and down Robin’s bare neck definitely wasn’t the time for that.
Still, he played the perfect bodyguard and religiously followed her when needed, then got out of the way when she—or rather, Princess Ana—wanted some alone time with Jin. It was more of Jin requesting Ana for private conversations and walks rather than the other way around, and Simon knew Robin had no choice but to accept graciously. Still, it didn’t sit well with him.
He also didn’t like the Hiroshi home, which was so damn big and so ominous in its silence. Apparently, Jin didn’t believe in guards inside the mansion, and most of his guards were on the gates and walls surrounding the mansion. This left only Jin, Robin, Simon and some select servants inside, since Jin’s father also went away for some business meeting for a month. The timing couldn’t have been any more perfect because it gave Simon time to look around as inconspicuously as he could.
Except he found nothing—not even the dead stranger in the bathroom.
Three days in, Simon knocked on Robin’s bedroom door, intending to talk to her about it while Jin was still asleep. She opened it after three knocks, a bright smile on her face. It disappeared once she saw him. Then she was pulling him inside and shutting the door with a quiet click.
Simon stared at her figure in a silk robe. Her hair was damp and uncombed, and he could smell honeycomb, indicating she just got out of the shower. She took a towel from the closet and rubbed her hair with it, and he watched as her action of raising her hands pulled at her robe and shifted the hem higher and higher, exposing creamy skin and smooth thighs. He gulped.
“Still no sign of Jake?” she asked.
Simon blinked, absorbing her question. Then he dragged his gaze away from her legs and concentrated on her face as she sat on the edge of the bed.
“None. No sign of the body or Lucy. And Jin’s being too nice to you.”
Robin frowned. “Yeah, well, he thinks I’m royalty.”
Simon scoffed. “And he thinks you’re hot. He’s been touching you a lot lately.” While speaking, his gaze trailed to her hair again—particularly at her back that got exposed when she pulled her hair up. Her rubbing movements caused her robe to shift to the side, exposing a shoulder as creamy as her skin and a slender neck that just begged to be…
To be what?
Something primitive stirred in his belly, growing hotter by the second. He forced it down and inwardly scolded himself, not liking where his thoughts were going.
This is your childhood friend. Stay focused.
“I’m undercover and trying to seduce him. He’s supposed to touch me.”
The words had his gaze snapping up again, where it met hers. She was frowning again, obviously unaware of what he’d been thinking about earlier.
“Is that what you’re trying to do? Get him to sleep with you to get information?”
“It’s pretend.”
“But he doesn’t think it is.”
Her green eyes darkened as she narrowed them. “What are you implying?”
Simon tried to keep his tone casual. “I’m saying since you’re playing a role, you might have no choice when he turns the tables and seduces you first.”
Robin slowly stood up, facing him squarely. She was so much shorter than he was, but her lifted chin and strong aura pretty much had them at the same height. “This is a mission. If it comes to that, I’m well prepared.”
She meant protection.
Frustration rose up in Simon, as well as something else—a green-eyed monster that was irrational as much as it was out of place. He tamped it down and stared her down, but she wasn’t having it as she stared back, those big green eyes making him want to—
He inwardly staggered back when he realized his hand was already lifting to reach out for her. Instantly, he stepped back.
“Fine,” he intoned. “Just remember I’m around if you need help.”
“I can handle myself.”
“I know you can.”
Then he left the room before he could say or do anything he would regret.
*****
Jin’s assistant came to the third night to hand him some documents, and they excused themselves to a private area and whispered in hushed tones. Simon followed from a safe distance, catching the word prisoner and leaving quickly before he got caught. He tried to figure out how to get more information, but it looked like he didn’t have to as a new turn of events happened.
The assistant, a knockout brunette named Sami with come-hither eyes, tried catching him instead.
Her interest in him was obvious, and Simon took advantage. He pretended to be the cool, formal bodyguard at first, polite and reserved, while she came on to him as subtly as she could when her employer Jin and his charge Princess Ana weren’t around. He then shed the image slowly as he pretended to grow “fascinated” with her, though it wasn’t any hardship because she really was turning on the charm. It took his mind off things and got him prepared with seducing her to get something out of that prisoner word.
Apparently, Sami had the same thought—but hers was faster as she didn’t even need any words, pulling him towards his room quickly before pushing him against the wall, where she pressed her mouth against his.
It was one of those hot make-out sessions that was for the books—except Simon didn’t feel a damn thing. It was bland, and it was impersonal, even while he tried to act all enthusiastic about it and feel the moment.
He felt her unbuttoning his shirt, then his pants. Simon affected a chuckle, cruising his mouth down her cheek and up to whisper in her ear.
“What’s the rush? We have all night,” he murmured. “I wanted to talk to you about my charge and my worry…”
She interrupted him by pressing her palm against his cock, which was still inside his boxers. Energy filled his body, and his cock surged out of its own accord as a sexual sensation filled the air, turning it thick.
It was interrupted when the door banged open. Robin stood in the doorway, her eyes moving quietly at the scene before her. Simon resisted the urge to push Sami off, who was pressed over his half-dressed form. Robin’s gaze settled on the palm over Simon’s erection.
Then said gaze turned cold as she moved in an instant. Sparks filled her hands, and Simon felt pain dig into his shoulders. He turned to Sami—
It was no longer Sami. In front of him was a creature with black orbs for eyes who lunged straight towards Robin.
But the witch was faster than her. Simon made a move to protect, but Sami and Robin attacked each other in a blur and left him behind. The energy increased, and Simon shifted his hands and dragged Sami back from Robin. His hands burned. A chant was muttered, and a burst of energy flowed in the room—brighter and bigger than the energy earlier. Simon jumped and shielded Robin, pushing her against the wall.
Sami fell down with a thud, her head cut off from her body. It bounced up the wall before falling right at Simon’s feet, where he stared at it in shock. He only moved when Robin pushed him off and stood beside him, her breath heaving.
“Demon?” he asked, looking down at the body that was slowly evaporating. Demons didn’t evaporate as far as he was concerned, but this one emitted a thick gray smoke. There were two kinds of demons, actually: the lesser ones and the greater ones, the lesser ones being easier to kill by decapitating and the greater ones…well, probably running their own version of hell.
None of them turned to smoke.
Robin impatiently dispelled the smoke with a wave of her hand, containing it into a ball and making it disappear with a poof. Then she gave him a frosty look. “Succubus. A created one, with the creator somewhere here. And you walked right into her hands.”
The slam of the door on her way out indicated she wasn’t pleased. Shocked, Simon went to follow her.